Empowered to achieve a dream

Raymond James helps people become the advisors they always knew they could be

For Margaret Folk, the desire to become a financial advisor goes far beyond work/life balance and competitive benefits. It started long before she knew what job flexibility and uncapped earning potential even meant. She was just a kid.

After losing her father tragically at the age of three, Margaret saw how being financially unprepared impacted her family. As a child she became very regimented about saving and budgeting. People started coming to her for advice on how to save their money, too.

Upon graduating college, Margaret worked in the accounting department of a local benefits firm and climbed the ladder there at a young age. After earning her MBA, the department continued to create new positions for her, but she got to a point where she felt stuck. Her true passion was helping people, and she needed a career that let her use her skillset to do just that.

That’s when Margaret began seeing an executive coach, a move that helped her change the course of her career. Despite initial self-doubt, she found her opportunity and started at Raymond James. Working for Raymond James was a new experience for Margaret, but working with team was not.

“I actually started working with a Raymond James advisor, who’s now my branch manager, when I was 19. I was paying my way through college – my mom paid half, I paid half, and I was working a full-time job, and I had all this extra income. Every couple of years my advisor would say, ‘Hey, Margaret, you’d be really good at this.’”

Fortunately, with the help of an understanding branch manager and the training provided by the Advisor Mastery Program (AMP), Margaret was able to conquer her fears. Recognizing that the business landscape differs greatly for a novice financial advisor compared to a seasoned veteran, her branch manager thought AMP was imperative for her. And for Margaret, AMP was more than she expected.

“What I think makes AMP unique is that it looks at the advisor as a whole person as opposed to just specifically being focused on sales techniques. Other AMP trainees in my class went through other programs that focused on the numbers and not the advisor holistically. So, I think some of the pieces that were incredibly valuable were just being thoughtful about stress management.”

For Margaret, AMP exceeded her expectations of simply learning the business – and more.

“AMP enabled me to network with other advisors of my generation. I can pick up the phone and call someone in Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York or Baltimore and know they’re going through the same thing I am and know them pretty intimately from the time we all spent together at AMP. It’s these connections that have been important for me.”